Rumaki is a familiar appetizer at any respectable tiki party.  It can be made with any small portion of meat wrapped in bacon but traditionally chicken liver along with water chestnuts are used. These awesome little morsels were first introduced at Trader Vic’s something like 50 years ago, which founder Vic Bergeron claimed to be a Polynesian dish. That is debatable but what is not is how fast these things disappear when served. We used a wasabi sauce for dipping to spice them up a bit. You can experiment with this recipe and replace the chicken liver with duck liver, shrimp, scallops or a firm flakey fish. It’s all good.

INGREDIENTS:

For the rumaki

• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon minced ginger
• 2 tablespoons rice wine
• 1 teaspoon dark brown sugar
• 12 oz chicken livers, cut in half
• 12 whole water chestnuts cut in half
• 12 slices bacon, cut in half
• 12 bamboo skewers, broken in half and soaked in water for at least 30 minutes

For the sauce

• 1/2 cup ponzu sauce
• 2 teaspoons wasabi powder

PREPARATION:

For the rumaki

1. Stir together the soy sauce, ginger, rice wine and sugar in a small bowl. Add the livers and water chestnuts halves and toss. Marinate in the fridge for 1 hour.

2. Set your grill up for indirect cooking and lubricate your grill grates with cooking spray. Preheat the grill to medium high heat. Place a piece of liver and a chestnut half in the center of each strip of bacon, and wrap the bacon around both, securing with a bamboo skewer. Next, place the constructed rumaki on the grill and cooked until the bacon is crisp and the livers are cooked but still slightly pink in the center, about 5 to 10 minutes. Be watchful of flair ups from the bacon drippings and you may need to cut into one to check for doneness.

For the sauce

Combine the ponzu with the wasabi powder and stir. Serve the rumaki hot off the grill with the sauce for dipping.

Makes 24 (obviously)

Heat Factor

Because of the sauce